Killing Hope (Book)
Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II is a 2003 book by William Blum which discusses...US military and CIA interventions since World War II, it outlines the efforts to build an American Empire in the second half of the 20th century through a combination of invasions, bombings, supporting coups, backing terrorists and interfering in elections. Summary The overall premise of the book is that the USA has constructed an advanced neo-colonial empire via invasions, bombings, coups, election interference, supporting terrorists and covert assassinations. Documenting many episodes from the second half of the 20th century, the book argues the US uses anti-communism (and later 'fighting terrorism' and 'spreading democracy') as ideological justifications for this project, claiming to want freedom for all but actually fighting any country that doesn't bend to the will of the US government or US corporations. From the moment of the first 'socialist' revolution, the US has been acting as a global policeman to ensure that people don't get ideas like 'redistribution of wealth', 'common ownership', 'workers control of industry' or 'direct democracy'. 1. China 1945 to 1960s: Was Mao Tse-tung just paranoid? After the end of World War II, the US began to interfere in the Chinese Civil War in support of the Kuomingtang (despite much of the faction being composed of collaborates with Japan. Deploying 100,000 US soldiers to the area, training 500,000 Kuomingtang soldiers, airlifting supplies in, bombing pro-communist villages and providing political support for the Kuomingtang. After this failed, the US supported the new state of Taiwan (despite its repression and repeated attacks on China, killing tens of thousands of people) and supporting the secret Kuomingtang army in northern Myanmar, one which created a giant illegal heroin industry (which the CIA helped transport) and killed more people in China, in addition to being a massive violation of sovereignty for Myanmar. 2. Italy 1947-1948: Free elections, Hollywood style 3. Greece 1947 to early 1950s: From cradle of democracy to client state 4. The Philippines 1940s and 1950s: America's oldest colony 5. Korea 1945-1953: Was it all that it appeared to be? 6. Albania 1949-1953: The proper English spy 7. Eastern Europe 1948-1956: Operation Splinter Factor 8. Germany 1950s: Everything from juvenile delinquency to terrorism 9. Iran 1953: Making it safe for the King of Kings 10.Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched 11. Costa Rica mid-1950s: Trying to topple an ally, part I 12. Syria 1956-1957: Purchasing a new government 13. The Middle East 1957-1958: The Eisenhower Doctrine claims another backyard for America 14. Indonesia 1957-1958: War and pornography 15. Western Europe 1950s and 1960s: Fronts within fronts within fronts 16. British Guiana 1953-1964: The CIA's international labor mafia 17. Soviet Union late 1940s to 1960s: From spy planes to book publishing 18. Italy 1950s to 1970s: Supporting the Cardinal's orphans and techno-fascism 19. Vietnam 1950 - 1973 : The Hearts and Minds Circus 20. Cambodia 1955-1973: Prince Sihanouk walks the high-wire of neutralism 21. Laos 1957-1973: L'Armee Clandestine 22. Haiti 1959-1963: The Marines land, again 23. Guatemala 1960: One good coup deserves another 24. France/Algeria 1960s: L'etat, c'est la CIA 25. Ecuador 1960-1963: A textbook of dirty tricks 26. The Congo 1960-1964: The assassination of Patrice Lumumba 27. Brazil 1961-1964: Introducing the marvelous new world of death squads 28. Peru 1960-1965: Fort Bragg moves to the jungle 29. Dominican Republic 1960-1966: Saving democracy from communism by getting rid of democracy 30. Cuba 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution 31. Indonesia 1965: Liquidating President Sukarno ... and 500,000 others, East Timor 1975: And 200,000 more 32. Ghana 1966: Kwame Nkrumah steps out of line 33. Uruguay 1964-1970: Torture — as American as apple pie 34. Chile 1964-1973: A hammer and sickle stamped on your child's forehead 35. Greece 1964-1974: "Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution," said the President of the United States 36. Bolivia 1964-1975: Tracking down Che Guevara in the land of coup d'etat 37. Guatemala 1962 to 1980s: A less publicized "final solution" 38. Costa Rica 1970-1971: Trying to topple an ally, part II 39. Iraq 1972-1975: Covert action should not be confused with missionary work 40. Australia 1973-1975: Another free election bites the dust 41. Angola 1975 to 1980s: The Great Powers Poker Game 42. Zaire 1975-1978: Mobutu and the CIA, a marriage made in heaven 43. Jamaica 1976-1980: Kissinger's ultimatum 44. Seychelles 1979-1981: Yet another area of great strategic importance 45. Grenada 1979-1984: Lying — one of the few growth industries in Washington 46. Morocco 1983: A video nasty 47. Suriname 1982-1984: Once again, the Cuban bogeyman 48. Libya 1981-1989: Ronald Reagan meets his match 49. Nicaragua 1978-1990: Destabilization in slow motion 50. Panama 1969-1991: Double-crossing our drug supplier 51. Bulgaria 1990/Albania 1991: Teaching Communists what democracy is all about 52. Iraq 1990-1991: Desert holocaust 53. Afghanistan 1979-1992: America's Jihad 54. El Salvador 1980-1994: Human rights, Washington style 55. Haiti 1986-1994: Who will rid me of this turbulent priest? 56. The American Empire: 1992 to present 383 External Links * Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II at archive.org Category:Books Category:Libertarian Socialist Wiki Category:William Blum